Sun shines again on large Pentecost gathering

 

This year’s Joint Service for Pentecost at the Cornhill was, again, a great celebration and a wonderful opportunity for the Church to make her presence felt here in the middle of our town. 

 

As thousands gathered in the May sunshine, the Cornhill gradually filled up with folk from all manner of churches. Those who arrived early were able to take advantage of patches of shade, for it was indeed a hot day, until the whole of the Cornhill was filled with folk eager to join together to worship our God.

 

 

The Ipswich Community Gospel Choir, who sang for the opening half hour before the 11am service, set the tone exactly right, declaring praises to God with their summery sound which invited the gathering crowd to sing, clap and in some instances even dance!

 

The Church revealed herself to be alive and well, thank you very much!

 

With Town Pastors on hand, from a whole range of churches, to hand out service sheets to everyone, the sense of unity was underlined. Eddie Vass gave a few opening words explaining Pentecost and reminding everyone that this was about a birthday, when the Holy Spirit came and filled believers gathered in Jerusalem - and the Church was born.

 

It seems so fitting when Pentecost Sunday is also the Global Day of Prayer and the service included both a mix of worship, hymns and well known standards and modern choruses, as well as the Global Prayer, led by four women who spoke in their own tongue as well as in English to lead the responses. Hearing other tongues in Ipswich addressing our God seems somehow a very Pentecost thing to do!

 

In all the excitement of the crowd and the event it was very moving to listen as hundreds of people spoke out the Lord’s prayer in the centre of town.

 

And again, when the crowd were asked to bow their heads and pray for the church and its leaders, the silence was filled with the prayers of all the people. In the busy-ness of our church activities and summer fun, let us not get so carried away that we do not stop and look to our God. As Eddie Vass said, we need to sit.

 

Two very frank testimonies were given very clearly and eloquently before such a large gathering, and our God was honoured in the midst of town this weekend.

 

It is such a privilege to worship God in the midst of the marketplace – it is worth stopping and pausing to pray for our brothers and sisters in nations where this could not happen. And may such a gathering inspire us to declare our praises to God more openly and use the opportunities we have in this nation in these days.